Full Tilt Red Pro Andy Bloch hosted the MiniFTOPS XIX Main Event. Bloch is probably best known for his runner-up finish to Chip Reese in the 2006 WSOP $50k Horse Event. He has amassed over $4 million in winnings through live poker tournaments. Bloch holds two degrees from MIT and a JD from Harvard Law. Unfortunately, Bloch’s six entries failed to make the money in the MiniFTOPS Main Event.

Besides Bloch, Team Full Tilt Poker was represented well. The MiniFTOPS Main Event attracted Red Pros like Allen Cunningham, Annette_15, Taylor Caby, and Phil Gordon. Damian Salas, an Argentinan pro, outlasted all of the pros before exiting in 136th position.

In the end, two players, KOMIJENDO and Demon1531 struck a deal during heads-up play. The chop gave KOMIJENDO over $396,000 and Demon1531 walked away with nearly $361,000.

Congratulations to all the players who participated in MiniFTOPS XIX!

Main Event – NL Hold’em, Multi-Entry Tournament
Players: 45,232
Buy-In: $70 + $5
Prize Pool: $3,166,240

1.     KOMIJENDO     $396,578.78*
2.     Demon1531     $360,944.14*
3.     manu_litas     $208,971.84
4.     TSchmidt     $148,813.28
5.     luckbox168     $104,485.92
6.     mar9300     $75,989.76
7.     CapItAt4     $56,992.32
8.     No_id_4_me     $42,110.99
9.     TurtlePower17     $29,762.66

* Indicates a deal was made

The host of Event 37 was Rob Hollink. Hollink is an established live pro who, in addition to his one World Series Of Poker bracelet, has amassed over $3 million in career earnings. Hollink only had one entry in his tournament, but he played well enough with the one entry to squeak into the money, placing 2375th and collecting $32.33. 16 other Red Pros joined Hollink in this tournament. Only three pros joined Hollink in making the money, though. Roy Winston had an entry finish 2283rd, Scott Clements had an entry finish 2150th and Trond Eidsvig had one of his four entries finish 857th.

One player did happen to finish better than the Red Pros and the rest of the field. Prom222 outlasted all the entries in the enormous field to finish first. He collected $43,936.35 after a three-way deal. Second place finisher poker_shark0920 actually fared better in the deal, collecting $44,620.41.

Congratulations to all those who cashed in Event 37 of MiniFTOPS XIX. Here are the results from the final table:

MiniFTOPS XIX Event #37 – NL Hold’em, 6-max, Multi-Entry Tournament
Entries: 20,209
Buy-In: $20 + $2
Prize Pool: $404,180

1. Prom222 — $43,936.35
2. poker_shark0920 — $44,620.41
3. pansi77 — $38,679.10
4. mugshot69 — $17,783.92
5. the_drop_out18 — $11,317.04
6. Instigator84 — $7,679.42
7. Retro83 — $5,254.34
8. wht744 — $5,254.34
9. DizzySFX — $3,637.62

Mini FTOPS Event #40 was hosted by Annette Obrestad, a true prodigy in the game today, and a great fit for this type as she has experienced outstanding success as both a live and online tournament player. Her biggest live accolade is taking down the inaugural WSOP-E Main Event for nearly $2,000,000 as an 18-year-old. Online, however, she has proved that her mettle extends across media platforms, having scored 4 lifetime paydays in excess of $50,000 each, for a grand total of well over $4,000,000 on the felt. And she’s still in her early twenties, so its highly unlikely that Annette_15 is going anywhere anytime soon.

But all of that being said, Annette was not able to cash in her own event, and only a couple of Red Pros were able to do so. Aaron Bartley (149th) and Michael Craig (134th) both cashed in this event, with Craig in particular proving that he not only knows how to write about poker, but he can play with some of the online game’s best players as well.  But other than those relatively few names in red, the balance of power in this event shifted to other players, including David ‘GhettoFabulous’ Randall, who is known for his training work with MTT Players.  David’s students and friends got to watch him not only hold a solid overnight lead (T288K at the break), but also make a deep run into 31st Place.  Also among the Day 1 leaders were ‘Rjpais’, ‘Usogotpwned’ (who went on to finish 6th), and ‘UA_3530′.

In the end, however, the Final Table and the Tournament belonged to Magic Mycoz, who scored the biggest win of his online career while taking home the entire $128,943 first prize. Unlike many events, this tournament did not feature a chop or deal of any kind, meaning that each player took home precisely what his or her place was worth in prize money. Congratulations to everyone who cashed in Mini FTOPS Event #40, Final Table results can be found below:

1.  Magic Mycoz – - $128,943

2.  Busto_soon – - $81,326

3.  Bastinho06 – - $55,788

4.  Sluggy27 – - $42,562

5.  Losebigpots – - $30,120

6.  USoGotPwned – - $20,298

Event #42 cost $50 + $5 to enter, with a guarantee of $100,000 on tap to tempt in passing punters. As it turned out, the allure of a prestigious heads-up title was even more enticing than a few extra dollars, with the 3,438 entrants building a prize pool of $171,900.

Just like every MiniFTOPS Event, this was an exact analogue of its FTOPS equivalent with the buy-in divided by ten. Although this was a cheaper option, the action was no less fierce and it would be almost 12 hours before a champion could be crowned. With the National Heads-Up Championship having concluded last month, appetite for this format is obviously high.

Event #42 was hosted by Matt Hawrilenko, Limit Hold’em expert and all-around cash game master. Behind Gus Hansen, he is the second most profitable online player of 2011. His winnings so far this year have topped the $1.8 million mark. Matt is known for his extremely analytical style, applying exacting mathematical calculations to each and every pot. In addition to online success, his brain has powered him to 8 WSOP cashes.

He was on form again in this heads-up battle. A 251st place finish was good enough for $137.52, making him the only Full Tilt Pro to turn a profit. A relatively small contingent of Red Pros turned out for Event #42, but the likes of Aaron Bartley, David Pham, Melanie Weisenr, Scott Clements, and Trond Eidsvig all failed to cash.

After winning his way through ten heads-up rounds, Latte_Cafe emerged as the victor, picking up over $26,000. Latte is a regular mid-stakes tournament player, who made small cash earlier this series in MiniFTOPS Event #23.

Latte could have one won a whole chunk more, had he not made a deal with second player sosickPL. The Polish player might have missed out on a MiniFTOPS title, but he still took home over $14,600 for losing the final heads-up round. The losing semi-finalists were Consistent Luck and rwestover.

Top 8 payouts were as follows:

1*   Latte_Cafe         $22,912.20
2*   sosickPL         $18,000.00
3     Consistent Luck     $7,391.70
4     rwestover         $7,391.70
5     ftp_Cuji         $3,781.80
6     C Menezes         $3,781.80
7     a365551         $3,781.80
8     Jacopo Poker     $3,781.80

Cristiano Guerra hosted the event, with a bounty of $12. Action was fast and furious from the outset, with players given only 300 chips with blinds starting at 15/30.

Here’s how things broke down at the final table:

#1 – betudontbet ($27,840)

#2 – shane476 ($17,817.60)

#3 – mzungu ($13,224)

#4 – Sisser99 ($9,883.20)

#5 – SILKUT ($6,960)

#6 – wartan54 ($4,593.60)

#7 – TheRounder09 ($3,062.40)

#8 – micvanbob ($2,088)

#9 -Josef Cur ($1,531.20)

The top 324 finishers received a return on their buy in, with a minimum payday of $90.48.

Christian Kruel was the only pro who managed to finish in the money, with a 50^th place elimination worth $271.44. Several came close, including Kenny Tran (368^th), Dag Mikkelsen (385^th), and Eddy Scharf (391^st).

Event 33 was hosted by Trond Eidsvig, a FullTilt Team Member from Norway who has more than $1,500,000 in career tournament earnings.  Eidsvig was joined by more than a dozen other FullTilt sponsored professionals in Event 33 including Lee Watkinson, Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger,  Toto Leonidas, and Pass Lefrancois who had the deepest run of all the professionals before falling in 28th place.

The 6-max structure, along with the deeper stacks due to all the re-buys, made for some great poker down the stretch. Taking home the title was “IseeYourSoul” who outlasted “PayMyPension” for a nice $62,963 payday. This was his first $50k+ cash on FullTilt and bested a previous high of $43,343 which came in a 2nd place finish in the $150k nearly a year ago.  Runner-Up PayMyPension was not quite as experienced, however he was coming off of another final table run in Event #17 just five days ago! His 4th place finish there earned him $9,461, well behind the $39,711 he gained late last night.  In third place was “nyquilholic” who might have been the most seasoned veteran entering the final table. He won the $200k ($163 re-buy) on FullTilt just four days earlier for $76,073 and made the final table for FTOPS Event #16 last November before busting in 6th place for $44,924.  The final table was rounded out by “Fisksson”, “TUCCI007″, and “mamamira” who earned $14,708, $9,911, and $6,362 respectively.

Congratulations goes to “IseeYourSoul” and all 348 players who made the money in MiniFTOPS XIX Event #33!!

MiniFTOPS XIX Event 33 $300k Guaranteed
3,149 Entrants; $319,740 prize pool

1. IseeYourSoul $62,963
2. PayMyPension $39,711
3. nyquilholic $27,241
4. Fisksson $14,708
5. TUCCI007 $9,911
6. mamamira $6,362

The hostess of the event was Lacey Jones, the official WSOP hostess and hostess for the Doubles Poker Championship on TV. Jones also works as a fashion model and is, of course, a professional poker player. She learned to play poker while she was going to college and accepted an invitation from ESPN to compete in a tournament as a model. Everyone was shocked when she went deep in the event, and this launched her career as a poker player.

While Event 19 was scheduled for two days, only four players actually made it to day two. Ferrari55358 was scheduled to play Mement_mori, and actionjunky32 was scheduled to play highlandfox.

If you are a fan of online poker, you will definitely be familiar with Mement_mori, also known as Mickey Peterson. He is currently ranked 44th on the PocketFives leaderboard, and he is an instructor for Cardrunners. To say that his online tournament results are outstanding would be an understatement. His cashes online total over $3.6 million, with his largest cash coming in a PokerStars SCOOP event for $161k. He has done just fine in live events, as well. His largest live cash would be his 4th place finish in April 2010 in the EPT Grand Final for almost $98k.

Highlandfox is also well known in the online poker community. Known as Timothy Finne offline, he is currently ranked 535th on PocketFives and has $1.6 million in career online cashes. His largest online cash has come on PokerStars in the Sunday 500 for $94k. He has quite a few live cashes on his poker resume, as well, including two 6-figure WSOP cashes. The first came back in 2009 for $126k in the $3k HORSE event. The second was just last year in a $2.5k Limit/No Limit Holdem event for $110k.

While actionjunky32 is not as high profile as either Mement_mori or highlandfox, he has also had an incredible amount of success with online poker. He is currently ranked 555th on PocketFives and currently has $755k in career winnings, all on Full Tilt Poker. His largest cash came around a year ago for almost $46k in the $750k guaranteed. It seems like March is a good month for him!

Of the four finalists, we know the least about Ferrari55358. Ferrari55358 does not have an account on PocketFives, and to date has played just over 100 tournaments on Full Tilt. Before this heads-up event, he had no other significant cashes under this screen name at all!

You will soon find out that experience and previous success does not always dictate a tournament’s outcome. Ferrari55358 managed to beat the experienced Mement_mori in their match, a classic case of the underdog overcoming the odds and winning in the end. On paper the match between actionjunky32 and highlandfox could have gone either way, and it was highlandfox emerging victorious when it was all said and done.

This set up a final match between highlandfox and Ferrari5535. The two players decided to make a deal for the remaining prize pool. Originally 1st place was $93k and 2nd place was $53k, but they made a deal for $66k each and played for the remaining $14.6k.

Once again Ferrari55358 had to be the underdog, and once again he overcame the odds to win the match! The final hand was quite epic: Ferrari5535 raised AJss and called highlandfox’s 3-bet with K4ss. The flop came down 4d3s2d, giving Ferrari5535 a gutshot with overs and highlandfox a pair with an over. The turn came Ts, giving both of them flush draws! It is no surprise that all the money went in at this point. The river came a Jd, giving Ferrari5535 top pair and the MiniFTOPS title.

Congratulations to everyone that cashed Event 19! Please see below for the top 4 cashes and be sure to come back to FTR for more MiniFTOPS coverage.

1 – Ferrari55358 – $80,685.00
2 – highlandfox – $66,000.00
3 – actionjunky32 – $27,622.50
4 – Mement_mori – $27,622.50

Event #26 was hosted by poker pro Andrea Benelli. Benelli learned poker from his father in Italy at a young age, and began a professional poker career at 18. In 2008, Benelli hit the EPT circuit with a splash, performing well through 2010, where he regularly earned tournament prizes $100k and up.

Few professionals competed in Event #26. Red Pro Roy Winston finished the highest of the pros, in 2,757th place. Winston has earned more than $2.5 million in tournament poker. The closest pro behind him was Gabriella Hill, finishing in 2,981st.

One of the most consistent players during the tournament was player nieezz. Down to the last 400 players, nieezz could be seen bouncing around in the top ten, one of the only consistent names in the leader board for almost half the tournament. He took several large hits, but each time bounced back, regularly surpassing the players who briefly held the chip lead. Nieezz, along with eight other players, made it to a final table where the action might have slowed, but the strategic play intensified.

The first four players to be knocked out at the final table, KGBORLOW, LightWeightBB, borrel, and ADNYSY, were sent to the rail in classic fashion: AJ vs. AK, small pocket trips vs. top pair, pocket aces taking out the suited connectors, and the like. All four knock outs occurred before the first final table break. For the remaining final five, it was a grinding showdown, starkly contrasted to the rapid pace of the 7,832 players eliminated before them.

Igyfrombxl was, for a long time, the short stack. However, after enduring the grind, igyfrombxl survived two all-ins to leap from last to second place. On poker “life support,” igyfrombxl won a classic all-in race (pocket pair to over cards) and doubled up from 700k to 1.4 million in chips. His most impressive all-in, however, occurred deep into the final table when his A9 was called by Foxy1885′s AK. The ace hit the flop, and Foxy1885 began celebrating his extremely dominant position. However, one card later, Igyfrombxl hit a 9, made two pair, and found himself in a solid second place.

Soon after, Nieezz, our consistent, solid performer for the majority of the tournament, ran afoul of igyfrombxl’s luck. Nieezz’s A3 stood no chance to igyfrombxl’s AK, and he finished in fifth place, though earning a nice payday of $6,739.82. Five hands later, Foxxy1885 was knocked out by blazer rudy, and the three-handed table went to battle with mostly even stacks of 3.6, 5.6, and 5.9 million chips. A 20 minute grind later, and DonkyNumber42′s QA backed into KK, and he made a third place exit to the tune of $13,166.16.

Though discussing a deal several times, the last two competitors played the tournament out like professionals. Complimentary of each other’s play in the chat box, but absolutely brutal with their chips, the sharks played to the end, ultimately refusing to cut their opponent any slack. Like a World Series of Poker finish, the final heads up contest between igyfrombxl and blazer rudy went hand after hand, fold after fold, until each player woke up to a big hand…

On hand 16 of heads up play, igyfrombxl looked down at pocket jacks and pushed all-in. Blazer rudy had little decision to make, with bullets in the hole. His pocket aces, moments later, placed him in first place for a whopping $30,489.07 prize, and left igyfrombxl in second for a more-than-respectable $18,652.06, drawing to a dramatic close the successful MiniFTOPS XIX Event #26.

7,837 players betting cards at breakneck speed, knocking down opponents faster than you can fold, and a final table with ESPN-style drama, Event #26 of MiniFTOPS XIX was an exciting success. A big part of the event’s fun was that final table, where a host of players remained to observe what was a more subtle and strategic drama than the main event. Full of good-natured players, fast-action, and big payouts, the MiniFTOPS Event #26 was a great success with the players. With many more events to go, there is still plenty of time to get in on the action!

The final table standings and payouts:
1. blazer rudy – $30,489.07
2. igyfrombxl – $18,652.06
3. DonkyNumber42 – $13,166.16
4. Foxy1885 – $9,404.40
5. nieezz – $6,739.82
6. ADNYSY – $4,545.46
7. KGBORLOW – $3,134.80
8. LightWeightBB – $2,194.36
9. borrel – $1,567.40

At the outset, $79,000 and some change was set to be awarded to the winner of this absolutely enormous event.  Hosted by Red Pro Ryan Dreyer, Event #22 was a NLHE event that featured super stacks (5,000 chips to start), KO Bounties ($2 out of each $12 entry fee was a player bounty), and the popular multi-entry format, meaning that each player could enter the event 4 separate times.  To call it a war of attrition seems like a bit of an undersell, really, as the eventual winner was going to need to corral almost 300 MILLION CHIPS to win the event. Someone would eventually do it, and that someone was player “Niki1515″.

Many Red Pros showed up for the event, and among the ones finishing in the money would be Ferrari Zumbini (1191st), Jon Turner (828th), and Ross Boatman (405th).  Any score by a Red Pro in this massive of a field is worth noting, but Turner in particular showed great mettle, entering this event only once, and still taking that lone entry well into the Top 2% of all runners.

As the field narrowed down to a few tables late into the night, player “immaturejansson” of Sweden took the lead and held it for several levels, becoming the first player to crest the T20 Million mark, and doing so with 37 players still running in the event!  The aggressive Swede took a surprising exit in 22nd place though, paving the way for players like “SCNoodle” and “ChanMix”, both of whom held leads with over T35 Million at various points before the Final 18 players took their seats.  As the final table loomed closer, the lead shifted around the tables. The Final Table itself found average chip stacks of almost T35 Million per player, and eventually a 4-way chop between “Niki1515″, “DylanPlay1″, “Casteletti”, and “Henry75F”.  Each player took home at least $47,000 (not bad for the $13 investment!!), with $51,145 going to “Niki1515″ for the outright win.  Congratulations to everyone who participated in the marathon event. Final Table payouts can be found below:

Mini-FTOPS XIX Event #22 ($12+1 NLHE KO):

1.  Niki1515 – - $51,145

2.  DylanPlay1 – - $49,750

3.  Casteletti – - $47,074

4.  Henry75F – - $47,231

5.  SCNoodle – - $18,287

6.  jaybizzle3 – - $13,299

7.  Chan Mix – - $9,974

8.  Nickola007 – - $7,370

9.  NadirManji – - $5,209

Event 15 was hosted by Full Tilt Red Pro Paul Wolfe. Though he is primarily an online player, Wolfe has had live tournament success with over $345,000 in career tournament winnings. Unfortunately, Wolfe did not have success with any of his entries in this tournament, missing the cash with all four. 19 other Red Pros joined Wolfe in this tournament, all with four entries a piece. Even with four entries for all of them, though, they couldn’t seem to put it together. As a result, no red pros cashed in the tournament.

The player who did manage to put it together was T1lerDurden. Whether or not he was the disassociated personality of someone else, he outlasted the multitude of entries to finish first and walk away with $35,962.34 after a 5-way chop.

Congratulations to T1lerDurder and everyone else who cashed in Event 15. Here are the results from the final table:

Event #15 – NL Hold’em, Super Turbo, Multi-Entry Tournament
Players: 12,623
Buy-In: $31 + $2
Prize Pool: $391,313

1. T1lerDurden — $35,962.34*
2. Gamao Kai Dern — $39,186.10*
3. miniskive — $41,139.77*
4. keatthesneak — $40,421.44*
5. GoroDaimon – $37,847.2*
6. UnderThaGun187 — $11,348.08
7. bling86 — $7,826.26
8. trashman831 — $5,478.38
9. InspectClouseau — $3913.13